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BLAND—The Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program has awarded the city of Bland a grant for $591,170 to upgrade three city streets.

The grant will be used to upgrade Colorado Avenue, Sycamore Street and Main Street with new pavement and drainage infrastructure. Gasconade County has also committed to making upgrades to Pleasant Avenue.

Colorado Avenue is the main business locale for Bland and sees a high traffic flow. The fire department is also located on Colorado Avenue, and Main Street provides primary access to Colorado Avenue from Highway 28. Main Street also receives most of the traffic from north of the highway that crosses over to the Maries County R-II school campus on the south side. Sycamore Street is located at the end of Colorado Avenue where the post office is situated, and city hall is around the corner.

Each street will be excavated to subgrade with current corrugated metal pipe and vitrified clay pipe being removed. The road subgrade will be graded and compacted prior to the addition of new aggregate base rock. New corrugated metal pipes will be installed as well as new drop inlets. Each street will then receive a four-inch black base asphalt layer, followed by a three-inch Type BP-1 asphalt layer. Ditches in the area will be cleaned and graded to improve water flow.

Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) prepared the grant request and will administer the grant on behalf of the city of Bland.

“These streets are essential for the community, but they are severely deteriorated,” said Kelly Sink, MRPC’s Project Development Manager. “The reconstructed streets will be much more resilient to current traffic use and storm drainage.”

A kickoff meeting was held on Feb. 13, 2025, with design work beginning this year. Requests for bids are expected to go out in March 2026 with the bid to be awarded in April 2026. Construction is expected to begin in May 2026 and run through October 2026.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be $623,020 with the difference coming from the city and in-kind donations. Bartlett & West from Rolla helped with initial project development, but Archer-Elgin, Rolla, has been selected for final design and bidding.

CDBG programs are designed to support the well-being of Missouri’s communities and increase their capacity for growth. Grants are available in several categories and can be utilized for a variety of community development initiatives.

The CDBG program is a flexible program that provides communities with the necessary resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. Beginning in 1974, the CDBG program is one of the longest continuously run programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Missouri Department of Economic Development handles Missouri’s allocation of CDBG funds and offers them on a competitive basis to cities, counties and other qualifying entities outside entitlement areas, that receive direct CDBG funds.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. Mary Heywood, representing the unemployed, serves as chair of the board. A professional staff of 26 offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion/.

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